Any Beer MDs Out There?

[BlackJackBrews]

I'm afraid my worst fear is coming to life. I might be developing a hop allergy.

I've noticed recently (within the last month) that when I drink hoppy beers at night I have a hard time breathing in bed. Not like "I'm going to die" breathing, but similar to what I experience during hay fever season.

I don't have any food allergies or anything like that. I'm young and in good health, but I do usually struggle during hay fever season here in OK. I was doing some research and found that hops are in the hay fever family, and I'm wondering if that's what is getting to me.

The beers that seem to really get me are, Bridgeport Hop Czar, SN Torpedo, FD Double Dog, etc. The worst part is the strongest reaction I've had came the night I tasted my latest batch while bottling. It's an Imperial Blonde, not overly hoppy. I'm hoping it had more to do with the Marshall IPA I was drinking that night...

Any thoughts? Is this the onset of a hop allergy, or maybe are the hops just accentuating something else that is going on with the season? Like I said, this is something I've only noticed in about the last month.

Either way I don't think I can give up the IPAs... More just curious if this will pass, or be getting worse....

EDIT: This isn't anaphalactic shock or anything like that. I've read the other post with the guy breaking out in hives etc. Nothing like that. Just tightness in my chest like going for a run in cold weather...

 

[coypoo]

Well, allergic reactions usually require a sensitization followed by an "allergic respone" when you are rechallenged by the allergen. If it only happens with the hoppiest of the hoppy brews, then you might have some sort of allergy to the hops. Since homebrew isnt filtered, there will be more hop particles in your beer than any commercial ones, so that is why you might have had a reaction to tasting the sample of the blonde.

I think that this is definitely something to continue to watch as we dont want you to have an allergic reaction or anaphlylaxis which is very serious. I would say that if you are going to have some hoppy beers one night to make sure that you dont get drunk at all. Have 1 or 2 and see what happens. If the reactions are getting worse, then I would definitely call your primary care physician to talk about this, maybe they can run some allergen tests or you may have some undiagnosed respiratory condition. Hopefully, its just something in the air and not something in the beer, good luck!

 

[Zamial]

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a Dr. I have no real medical training to speak of short of CPR. If you try any of these things you do so at your own risk...

In most cases allergies do not go away or lessen with time, they get worse/you get more sensitive to the allergen.

I have a seasonal allergy and just got over a mystery hive breakout that I assume was related to my seasonal allergy, since it has not returned. Not only is it a bizzare food allergy that attacks me it only happens for the winter months.

You could also be having a reaction to a few other things as well in the beer other than hops.

If it was me I would NOT drink beer for 1 day and make up a hop tea and drink down a small glass of it after dinner. If it is hop related you will know pretty quickly.

 

[BlackJackBrews]

If it was me I would NOT drink beer for 1 day and make up a hop tea and drink down a small glass of it after dinner. If it is hop related you will know pretty quickly.

That's not a bad idea. I just have a hard time thinking it's really an allergy. Do allergies just come up out of nowhere? I've drank IPAs for years and never had this tightness of chest thing before...

It also isn't nearly as bad as my lungs get after riding my bike on a cold day or something like that. It doesn't scare me or anything. I'm more just trying to figure out if I really am having a reaction from beer or not. I mean it would make sense to me that a hayfever weed like hops could make me feel like I do in the fall, but for some reason I assumed since I was drinking it those effects went away or something...

 

[Homercidal]

If it's just a pain or feeling of tightness in the chest, have you considered it being like reflux irritation? Some things can "stick" to your esophagus and irritate it.

 

[Zamial]

Allergies are weird. Some can be prevented by ingestion of small quantities of the histamine/irritant while others, this will not work for and the histamine/allergen needs blocked.

That being said. I use LOCAL, UNPASTEURIZED, Unscrewed with honey in ALL of my beers. I get it from Amish bee keepers at about $5 a lbs. so it is not cheap. Honey will also "dry out" a beer a little.

I will use at least 1 lbs of honey in every 5-6 gallon batch of beer I make. The local unfiltered honey will carry some pollen in it and the ingestion of this pollen and other histamines will negate the pollen allergen reaction. This has been proven because SWMBO has bad allergies to pollen/mold and mildew in the spring/fall times mostly. When she stops drinking commercial beer and mainly drinks my HB she has no allergy issues at all. 1 or more HB a day.

Then there is an allergy like mine. Nothing can help/stop it from happening. I believe it to be genetic as my father had the same issue but his was classified as severe where as mine is moderate. I am allergic to potatoes specifically and generally any nightshade vegetable family (eggplant, peppers, tomatoes but these seldom affect me.)

It only effects me in the late fall, winter and early spring. In less than 1 month I will not even be able to eat ANY deep-fried food from a restaurant because the fryer oil will have had french fries cooked in it! (Not that it is a bad thing but it makes ordering at a restaurant difficult, especially when traveling) I normally get a rash but the last time I was attacked by hives. Honey does not cure this. The worst part is I love potatoes and they are in almost EVERYTHING...

I did learn that IF you are having a bad allergic reaction the ER will give you a shot of Benadryl and if need be Adrenalin. That $300 ER visit could have been prevented by me just taking more Benadryl and having SWMBO scare me or something...now I know better!

Anyways I would think that a hayfever allergy would be more like SWMBO's allergy and less like mine. Local honey may be the perfect cure for you. At the very least it would be worth a try.

as I stated before I am NOT a Dr. or a medical professional so please regard my posts in such a way. I hope this helps or at least gives you some place to start.

 

[BlackJackBrews]

I did learn that IF you are having a bad allergic reaction the ER will give you a shot of Benadryl and if need be Adrenalin. That $300 ER visit could have been prevented by me just taking more Benadryl and having SWMBO scare me or something...now I know better!

Excellent! From now on I'm keeping Benadryl and a button that will set off my house alarm with me at all times. I'll never blow money at the ER again!

Seriously though, the honey idea is great. Never thought of that before. If anything, that will help with the local hayfever effects. Not sure about the hops since they are definitely not local, but you never know, it's worth a shot...

 

[DannyG]

I did learn that IF you are having a bad allergic reaction the ER will give you a shot of Benadryl and if need be Adrenalin. That $300 ER visit could have been prevented by me just taking more Benadryl and having SWMBO scare me or something...now I know better!

That's not entirely true. If the reaction is bad but not life-threatening, yeah, you might get Benadryl and monitoring. If it's really bad, though (and if its bad enough for someone to go to the ER, it's probably pretty damn bad) you'll be given Epinephrine - which, yes, is a form of adrenaline, but one you can't get without a prescription (it's the same stuff that's in EpiPens). Also, if you go on an ambulance, depending on the protocols where you live the medics will give you the Epi en-route, so yeah, at that point the ER will mostly just monitor you.

This is all based on my personal experience seeing a lot of allergic reactions (I've been an EMT in Israel, Pennsylvania, and New York), but it may be different in different areas/hospitals, so YMMV.

/threadjack.

Aaanyway, back to talking about beer - hope it's not a hop allergy, that would be awful. Here's hoping its something in the air or something like that.

 

[mixedbrewer]

My friend had a similar experience where he would get chest pain after drinking certain beers. Turns out it was GERD, or acid reflux.

 

[Crinkle]

I agree with the acid reflux thing. That sounds more like what you are describing than an allergy. I think you have heartburn!!
BTW, if it is allergies, it can come out of nowhere, and get worse in a hurry. Make sure you do have Benadryl on hand, and if it's doesn't help withing 10-15 minutes go to the ER. I nearly died once from an allergic reaction to an antibiotic (one that I had been on several times before.)

 

[cenla]

Do allergies just come up out of nowhere?

yes. as the body ages we can develop new allergies. Sometimes very abruptly. Ex: poison ivy didn't affect my dad until his mid 50s, when suddenly he got a huge case.

and I am not a doctor. Just sayin...

 

[AmandaK]

This happens to me as well, as it turns out, I'm actually slightly sensitive to gluten, particularily if it comes from raw wheat products.

From what it sounds like, we have pretty much the same symptoms. After a few beers (2-3) I can't seem to breathe out of my nose at all. The problem goes away the next morning though, so I've never considered it much of a problem.

Amanda K